Whole 30 on

Well, the November Whole30 is over.  It was (after that first week anyway) much less painful than one might suspect.   The major cravings have gone away.  I don't wake up in the morning requiring Diet Pepsi.  I also don't require it at regular intervals throughout the day.  Unfortunately I also have not replaced it with water or anyone similar wholesome appropriate beverage but that is neither here nor there.  

On average the gut feels better.  There are still terrible days but they are less frequent than they were before.  I suppose that is something. As far as food goes though I seem to be hitting my stride.  I'm not missing grains or dairy.  Soy is harder not because I just love soy but because it's so ubiquitous in American food.  It's nearly impossible to eat out or even buy a lot of canned or frozen vegetables because they're laced with the stuff.  That is one area where I've been a little more lenient just for convenience sake.  Otherwise, all is good.  I'm tweaking recipes and learning what my new "staples" are.  Nothing too exciting got made in this weekend's rotation but a smattering are below.  Another batch of baked fajitas - these are awesome on top of salad for work lunches.  I've done seafood, chicken and now made my way back to steak.  Another quiche which has become a weekly endeavor - this time pumpkin 'crust' with broccoli, mushrooms and eggplant.  Babaganoush.  And sweet potato chips.

I'm sure new recipes will come eventually - especially with a vacation in a few weeks - but I seem to have settled into a pattern here and lost my inspiration for new cooking adventures.  

 

Pumpkin Quiche

 

This is remarkably similar to the butternut squash version of two weeks ago but is even easier since it doesn't involve actually roasting a squash on your own.

Makes: 8 servings

Nutrition:  71 calories, 9g protein, 1g fat, 7g carbs

Ingredients:

1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree

1 onion, sliced

8oz mushrooms, sliced

8oz spinach, chopped

2 cup liquid egg whites

1/2 cup coconut milk

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 400F. Spread pumpkin onto bottom and sides of non-stick cake pan.  

*Saute onions over low heat just until they start to soften.  Add mushrooms and cook over medium heat until tender.   Add chopped fresh spinach and continue to cook, stirring frequently until wilted.

 * Add the sauteed mixture to the crust

 * In a separate bowl mix the egg and coconut milk.  Pour over the sauteed vegetables in the crust.

 * Place in the oven and back at 400F for 50 minutes

* The center should be fully cooked and not liquid when complete and the edges just starting to brown.

Pumpkin Fries

If you've been following along with my kitchen adventures you heard about my lack of resistance to the super cute pumpkin that made me take him home.  Well, here he is.  

 

 

Cute, yes?  

First there was roasted pumpkin.  Yum.  Now there is baked pumpkin fries.  Yum again.

This is even easier.  As long as you've got a little man power and a sharp knife.  I have very little man power, it took some effort.  Anyhow, cut off the top, cut him in half and scoop out the guts and seeds with a spoon.  

Then, it's just slice and bake.  I tried two versions.  One in big 'wedge' slices and the other more 'fry' sized.   Both turned out great. 

The fries were about 1/4 inch thick.  I sprayed these with olive oil and sprinkled with just a little bit of cinnamon.  Placed on a baking sheet and baked at 350F for 20 minutes, just until the outsides get a little crispy and the insides soften up.   

The slices I did essentially the same thing, they just took a little longer to finish and were cooked for about 30 minutes.  

 Not seen here, I also have some that I cubed in about 1/2 inch squares.  These take a little longer even, 30-40 minutes to soften up.  They're also good with cinnamon.  Or with an Indian tandoori spice rub.  Or with garlic salt.  The possibilities are endless. Too bad it's not pumpkin season year round...

  

Roast pumpkin

  

It never really occurred to me before how to cook a pumpkin.  I like pumpkin pie and I knew how to make a decent pumpkin pie (from a can...).  That was really all I appreciated pumpkin for.  This fall pumpkin has taken on a whole new level of excitement (obsession) for me.  I eventually (inevitably) caved and walked out of the store with a pumpkin.  I had really no idea what to do with it.  I'm still making it up as I go, but I've enjoyed it completely so far. 

This is Roasted pumpkin.  Incredibly simple and I highly recommend it.  

Simply prepare the pumpkin by washing, remove the top and cut it in half.  Then scoop out the stringy guts and seeds.

Sprinkle the fleshy side with ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  It would probably be fine without this or with your preferred seasonings. Probably delicious with a little brown sugar... 

Place the halves skin up on a baking sheet. (I line my with parchment paper; foil or nothing at all would be fine, but lining it definitely aids in the cleaning process.  I also only roasted half because I wanted to play with the rest of it in other things.)

Bake in a preheated oven at 375F until it is tender and easily pierced with a fork.  The flesh will be soft and caramelized brown around the edges...

I cut it into quarters and just slapped it on a plate to eat.  OK... so I couldn't resist and just grabbed a fork and ate it, still steamy, straight from the pan.  Then I cut the other pieces and stuck them in the fridge for later... I did a little internet research and learned that you can eat the skin with no ill effects.  Except it seems there are a lot of people out there with textural issues related to pumpkin skin.  I did not seem to have that issue.   Mmm, more pumpkin to come...

 

 

Pumpkin Frosting

 

Pumpkin Frosting.  Enough said. 

Servings: 24

Calories: 94 

Nutrition: Carb 40g, Protein 0g, Fat 1g

 Ingredients

1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
6 cup powdered or confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

 To make:

1. Soften margarine to room temperature in large bowl.  Add pumpkin and pie spice and beat with hand mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes. 

 

2.  Sift in sugar 1 cup at a time and mix with hand mixer gradually adding sugar until desired consistency is achieved.  

 

Mmm... pumpkiny, orange and delicious... 

Pumpkin sauce take 2

 

 Take #2 on pumpkin sauce. 

Changed from the previous.  The mushrooms I left out which kept the color from browning - though you can see I still added the mushrooms and broccoli to go with it in the end.  I left out the onion and paprika.  I changed the spices a bit and made it more reminiscent of pumpkin pie.  Also thined out a bit with water and almond milk.   Better, and again - I ate and enjoyed this in a variety of ways - but not quite perfect yet. 

 

Servings: 5  (108g or 3/4 cup)

Calories: 65

Nutrition: Carb 10g, Protein 2g, Fat 1g

 Ingredients

2 cup pumpkin puree

6T (3/8 cup) sour cream 

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Combine pumpkin, milk, water and sour cream in sauce pan over low heat and bring to a simmer.   Add remaining ingredients and cook at a low simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

Pumpkin Sauce Take 1 - Mushroom Stroganoff

 I am obsessed (yes, obsessed is really the right word) with pumpkin.  And apples.  But really pumpkin.  On a trip to pick up lettuce and apples (yes, the apples) I came home with lettuce, apples, pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin salsa and just plain pumpkin.  The next task is figuring out what I'm going to do with the ton (not literally this time) of pumpkin I have collected...  

My current challenge is coming up with a decent pumpkin sauce.  I had mushrooms and sour cream which usually prompts me to make a mushroom stroganoff which was the initial inspiration for this.  I ate it.  I enjoyed it.  But there is much room for improvement so I wouldn't use this for more than a jumping off point. I imagine most people would enjoy this much more over rice or pasta - I'm not eating either so what you're looking at is mushrooms in a pumpkin stroganoff (-ish) sauce over pureed broccoli "rice" (really just raw broccoli, chopped, 'pulverized' in the food processor and steamed briefly just to heat; I like the barely cooked 'crunch').   

 

Servings: 2

Calories: 109  

Nutrition: Carb 18g, Protein 10g, Fat 2g

 Ingredients

1 medium cooking onion thinly sliced (~110g)

16 oz Mushrooms, quartered (any will work I used 1/2 baby bellos & 1/2 standard white)

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 T sour cream

 To make:

1. Add onions to saute pan and cook slowly over medium heat.  When beginning to turn translucent add mushrooms to pan. * Note: I don't generally use butter, margarine, spray, oil, etc to saute vegetables though you certainly can. 

2. When mushrooms soften add remaining ingredients to the pan.  Cook for additional 5-10 minutes to thicken and serve.  

This sauce isn't bad but it is a bit bland. I added more spice when I revisited this and added some almond milk to thin it out a bit.  Cooking with the mushrooms/onions seemed to dull the pumpkin flavor but if you have a stroganoff where the tomato taste isn't overwhelming anyway substituting the pumpkin is probably a reasonable option as long as you're not expecting the pumpkin flavor to dominate.   Take #2 coming shortly...

 

Fall Farmer's Market Bake

Random experiment gone beautifully right. An assortment of fall vegetables (and a few staples thrown in for good measure) roasted, baked and surprisingly delicious. Picked up an assortment of vegetables at the Westside Market on Monday and come the end of the week needed to find a way to get many of them cooked.

The peppers got sliced and baked into spring rolls which it turns out are a delicious place to put some of my (much beloved) salsa.  The persimmon was also a wonderful new discovery and I expect there will be many more in my future.

The vegetable bake would be great with meat if one was so included to cook and add it but is sufficient on its own.  Could easily be made vegan by leaving the cheese off the top.  Could easily be switched up by changing the vegetables you're including.  Zucchini or squash would fit right in with the rest.  Sweet potatoes or any potato would be nice sliced, roasted and layered in here as well. 

Servings: 12
Calories: 120
Nutrition: Carbs 21g; Protein 6g; Fat 3g

Ingredients
1 eggplant (450g)
1 acorn squash (1250g)
1 cup pumpkin puree (200g)
6 large roma tomatoes (775g)
2 small white onion (150g)
1 bunch asparagus (250g)
14 oz mushrooms
1 T oregano
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp crushed garlic
nutmeg
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup pecan halves, chopped
olive oil or olive oil spray


Directions:

*  Preheat oven to 400F
* Divide acorn squash longitudinally.  Scoop out seeds.  Spray or brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with nutmeg.

* Place squash in oven directly on rack with open face up.
* Line baking sheets with foil.  Thickly slice two small onions.  Spray lightly or brush with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano.
* After squash has cooked for 15 minutes increase temperature to 450F and add baking sheet with onions to the oven.

 * Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise.  Again, coat lightly with olive oil and oregano.  After onions have been in oven for 10 minutes add tomatoes to oven.

* Remove the woody base of the stems from the asparagus.  Coat lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano.

* Slice eggplant in half and then slice into 1/2-inch strips.  Again coating with olive oil and oregano.

* Add eggplant and asparagus to oven on baking sheets after tomatoes have been cooking for 10 minutes. 

* Prepare baking pan by spraying or coating with oil.
* Slice mushrooms and saute in pan on stove until tender.
* Remove vegetables 20 minutes after adding asparagus and eggplant (1 hour after starting to cook squash) and reduce temperature to 350F

* Begin layering roasted vegetables in 9X13 pan by placing eggplant on bottom of dish with some overlapping.  

 * Top eggplant with tomatoes and then asparagus.  Sprinkle with remaining oregano, garlic and rosemary.

* Continue layering vegetables with onions and mushrooms.

 * Skin cooked squash and cut into approximately 1-inch thick slices.  Place slices to top of dish.  Mash squash lightly with large spoon and spread to coat other vegetables.

* Top with pumpkin puree and spread evenly.   Spread shredded over top.

* Place pan in oven.  After 15 minutes sprinkle chopped pecans over top of dish.

* Bake for addition 10 minutes or until cheese starts to turn golden brown around the edges.

* Remove from the over, cut and serve.

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Gnocchi

A twist on sweet potato gnocchi with the addition of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices.  I topped it here with a warmed pumpkin butter which amped up the pumpkin but doesn't really let the gnocchi flavor itself shine through.  Also delicious with a browned butter sauce which lets you get more of the pumpkin flavor in the gnocchi.  This did also require a great deal more flour than sweet potato gnocchi traditionally would because the pumpkin was so wet but still worked out just fine.

Makes: 12 dozen
Calories: 200/dozen

Ingredients:

24 oz sweet potato (about 3 med-large potatoes)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3T egg whites (or 1 large egg)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3-4 cup flour

Directions:

- Bake potatoes in over at 375F for approximately 1 hour or until soft.
- Remove from oven and cut in half.  Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes
- Scoop potato insides into bowl and mash or puree.  Add pumpkin and mix thoroughly.
- Slowly add flour to thicken.  Knead dough continuing to add flour until about 80% of the moistness has been removed.  The dough should have give to it and retain an indentation when pressed but not hold the indentation perfectly.
- Divide dough into manageable portions (I split into 4).  Place on floured surface and roll into lengths 1" in diameter.

- Using a blunt knife or fork cut off 1" segments
- Drop segments into pot with boiling water and boil for approximately 5 minutes or until gnocchi begin to float.

- Top with your desired sauce and enjoy.

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Frosting

This week I'm having fun with pumpkin.  This one was made for our resident potluck dinner this Sunday.  Overall this was great.

Serves: 12 (One 9 inch layer cake)
Calories: 466/slice

 Ingredients:

Cake
1 box spice cake mix
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove

Frosting
1 can (14oz) white whipped frosting
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp maple extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease or use non-stick spray to coat the bottom of 4 9-inch baking pans.

- Mix all cake ingredients as above.  Combine wet ingredients first and finish by sifting in dry ingredients.  Mix just until well blended.


- Divide batter equally among 4 pans


- Bake at 325F for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean


- Remove from oven and place on rack to cool

- Once completely cooled level cake and coat with simple syrup (I use 1 part sugar dissolved in 1 part boiling water and allowed to cool).

- Place frosting ingredients in bowl and mix thoroughly by hand or with electric mixer.  You may add additional or less powdered sugar to your desired consistency.  This will also have a very strong maple flavor.  If you want something a little more subtle I would omit the maple extract. I mixed until I had formed peaks.

 
- Assemble cake.  Start by placing one layer of cake on stand, top with icing & repeat.  Frost cake including sides and decorate as desired.  I just added a little texture to the icing and sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice and halved pecans. 

Nutritional Information:
Calories 466
Carbs: 90g
Sugar 68g
Protein 4g
Fat 15g